HEALTHY CHURCH: Leading Yourself, Others and Leaders

         At our April 17Pastors Conference this year, we were honored to have Mac Lake as our guest speaker. Mac is passionate about leadership development and has written several excellent books on this all-important topic.

      In The Multiplication Effect, his challenge is to focus on the why, not just the how and what. He asks, “Why do you want to develop leaders in the first place?” The most common answer is that we never have enough leaders and there are always more positions and jobs to fill than breathing bodies willing to fill the vacant spots. I’m not sure I have ever heard anyone complain that they had more workers than they knew what to do with.

      Mac stated, “The greater reason for developing leaders is to cultivate the God-given leadership gifts in others.” He continued, “When we’re driven by others’ potential rather than our pain, leadership development takes on a whole new feel.” Here is another great word of wisdom, “We don’t start with the position that needs to be filled; we start with the person that can be developed.” That is seeing leadership development through the lens of discipleship and how we can walk alongside someone to help them develop and be everything God intended them to be. Are we using people to build our church or focusing our church on building better people?

      The first question that must be asked is this — are you growing in your personal spiritual disciplines and are you actively discipling others? Are you consistently building a culture of being a lifelong learner who is focused on being a humble servant leader? Are you developing an authentic confidence in who God has called you to be and what He has called you to do?

      There is a huge difference between pride and authentic confidence, with the biggest distinction being the source. Pride comes from within the person and authentic confidence comes from the Lord. God grants confidence to those who choose to trust Him. Check out Prov. 3:5-6.

As followers of Christ, intimacy with Him must be our primary goal. Paul said it was his “determined purpose” to know Him (Phil. 3:10). Discipline is the means or method for having intimacy with God.

      In Experiencing God — Day by Day, Henry Blackaby stated,“We are so activity-oriented that we assume we were saved for a task we are to perform rather than a relationship to enjoy!” Leaders need to set the example of walking with Christ and being in His presence, seeking intimacy with Him. Intimacy demands time spent with one another in order to truly know the other. Paul was saying he would pursue a relationship so close with God in order to walk consistently with Him, no matter what challenges came.

Relationally, intimacy is a warm and satisfying friendship developing through long association on a very personal and private level. For that relationship to develop as God intended, it means He does not adjust His agenda to fit yours but you adjust to His. You realize that God does not speed up to catch up with your pace, but rather demands that you adjust your pace to be in step with Him. You understand that, normally, God does not scream or shout at you over the noisy clamor in your world, but instead expects us to seek quietness where we can hear His still, small voice. God is not supposed to be on our schedule, but we are to join Him on His.

Are you pursuing Him daily? Are you investing inordinate amounts of time and energy in getting to know Him better? If you want to build better followers of Christ and leaders, it begins with you being a better follower and leader. Are you practicing being still and silent in solitude before Him? If you feel very distant and far from God, that should be a frightening thing, but it can be corrected. God desires to reveal Himself to those who are willing to pay the price of shutting out the loud and busy distractions all around them, and that takes discipline. Discipline has been defined as “control gained by enforced obedience.”

There are conditions to our spiritual growth that depend upon the amount of perseverance you have in pursuing Him. Proverbs 2:1-5 (HCSB) says, “If you accept my words… if you call to insight… if you seek it like silver… then you will understand.” There are conditions to be met if you truly desire intimacy with the Lord, and that requires the discipline of denying immediate gratification for the glorious reward of intimacy with Christ. Protect, guard and remain faithful to your quiet time, pursuing Him through His Word, prayer, meditation, silence and solitude. That is the place where you are able to regain your spiritual perspective and to spiritually recalibrate.

Leading yourself well requires being alone with the Lord in order to develop the intimacy He desires. That requires two disciplines you do not hear as much about — silence and solitude. In Spiritual Disciplines for The Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney said, “Silenceis the spiritual discipline of voluntarily and temporarily abstaining from speaking so that certain spiritual goals might be sought and discovered.” He reminds us how we embrace the deceptive opinion that words are more important than our silence. Psalm 46:10 teaches us that silence is a natural outcome of being still. That is when we meditate on who He is and set our minds on things above.

Whitney defined solitude as “the spiritual discipline of voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes.” Silence is the gateway to depth, and it is worth every effort to make it happen. Solitude is the gateway to discovery, and it is too important to ignore.

      Church Swindoll stated, “These two disciplines are necessary for God-directed refreshment. Only in silence can you quiet your soul and only insolitude can you center your total focus on Him.” Without silence, you will remain shallow, and without solitude, you will continue searching for something that can only be found in Him!